| Hutch Swilley rushes for a touchdown against East Texas A&M Sept. 26, 2026. Photo by Kelly Richard |
| Cowboy Football By Mason Griffin The Poke Press McNeese football earned its first Southland Conference victory of the 2026 season Saturday night, defeating East Texas A&M 27-24 at Louis Bonnette Field at Navarre Stadium. McNeese took an early 6-0 lead behind two field goals from kicker Deaglan Camron. East Texas A&M responded with a touchdown to take a 7-6 lead before quarterback Jake Strong connected with Jamaal Levi on a 2-yard touchdown pass to put the Cowboys back in front. McNeese led 13-10 at halftime. The Cowboys opened the second half with a big play from Omiri Wiggins, who broke loose for a 74-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 20-10. McNeese added another touchdown when Hutch Swilley scored on a 6-yard run, giving the Cowboys a 27-10 advantage late in the third quarter. The Cowboys appeared to have control after building a 17-point lead in the third quarter, but East Texas A&M refused to go quietly. East Texas A&M fought back with two fourth-quarter touchdowns, cutting the deficit to 27-24 with 4:33 remaining. McNeese attempted to run out the clock but came up short on a fourth-down attempt inside the East Texas A&M 20-yard line. McNeese’s defense came through in the final minute. Iyioluwa Adekoya recorded a key sack, and the Cowboys stopped East Texas A&M on the following plays to seal the victory. McNeese improves to 2-3 and 1-2 in conference play, and East Texas A&M drops to 1-4 and 1-2 in conference play. “It was a good win for us Saturday. It’s good to find a way to win. I don’t think we’ve done enough of that around here,” McNeese head coach Matt Viator said. McNeese finished with 419 total yards, including 217 rushing yards. East Texas A&M recorded 478 yards of offense. Landon Barrett led McNeese defensively with 11 tackles, recorded his first career interception and won conference player of the week. McNeese heads to Baton Rouge Saturday to face No. 11 LSU, who are coming off a big win against Texas A&M on September 26. The last time McNeese and LSU faced off against each other was in 2021 when LSU won 34-7. LSU is 2-0 all-time against McNeese in football. Cowgirl Soccer By Wyatt Junkmann The Poke Press Traveling to Corpus Christi for the third Southland Conference match for the McNeese Cowgirls on Sept 27 resulted in a 2-0 victory over the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders for the first time since 2023. The Cowgirls showed their strength in the middle of the match, as defender Alexandra Arvanitis claimed the first goal of the match in the 36th minute, her first of the season. A short time later, forward Gabbi Barusic connected with Sumayah Brown to put the Cowgirls up 2-0. This was Brown’s third goal of the season, and Barusic’s second assist this year. Goalkeeper Shannon Dempsey earned her fourth clean sheet on the season, marking the fifth time McNeese has held their opponent scoreless this season. McNeese currently sits third in the Southland Conference standings with a 2-1 record against their conference opponents, just under Houston Christian who sits 2-0-1, and Northwestern State sitting at 2-0 against Southland opponents. The Cowgirls hold the most total wins in the conference, standing with a record of 7-5 to HCU’s 6-3-3 overall record. McNeese heads back home tonight to face off against in-state rival Nicholls at 6 p.m. The Cowgirls hold the all-time record over the Colonels with 34 wins to 4 losses, and are riding a 14-game win streak. All games are streamed live on ESPN+. Cowgirl Volleyball By Wyatt Junkmann The Poke Press The volleyball traveled to Corpus Christi to face off against Texas A&M-Corpus Chiristi on Monday, and although the Cowgirls lost, career days highlighted a chance to have pulled off the upset. Set 1 looked promising for the Cowgirls to start off, as McNeese were the first to 15, bringing the game to a halt for the media timeout. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi came out the break with determination to make the comeback, which they did as they outscored McNeese 6-2 ending in a 25-23 score to win the first set. Set 2 was back and forth between the Cowgirls and the Islanders, tying 14 different times within the set. The Islanders went back into the clutch and took the last tie of the set at 21 a piece and went on a four-score run to close out the set 25-21. Set 3 was the only set McNeese won, with multiple two to three scoring runs that brought the Cowgirls in a 2-1 set match, denying the Islanders a sweep with a score of 25-21 for the Cowgirls. Set 4 was much less competitive between the Cowgirls and Islanders, as the islanders won the match with a 3-1 set record in a 25-18 score. Junior Gabbie Maldonado led McNeese throughout this game, and claimed the highest kills in her career, scoring 17 of the 49 total kills for McNeese. The Cowgirls went back home to face off against Stephen F Austin Thursday night, where a similar story of good potential showed in the Townsley Law Arena, but a 3-1 set match brought the Cowgirls to a record of 4-10. This match was much more competitive than against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, as each set was within the two scores needed to win. Facing off against the pre-season number one ranked team in the Southland brought a good result despite the loss. Throughout the sets, SFA went hot-and-cold on runs and could not stop McNeese after some time. McNeese almost pulled off a comeback down 11 points in the fourth set, going on two separate 4-0 runs against the Ladyjacks. The Cowgirls now rank 10th in the conference standings with a 0-3 conference record. With an easier middle of the schedule match up coming up after facing the number one, two and three seeds back-to-back-to-back could allow the Cowgirls to make a mid-season push to climb higher in the standings. Facing the Lamar Cardinals who are 4-12 overall and 1-2 in SLC play tomorrow afternoon, the Cowgirls can potentially capitalize on the experience from playing close competition with the higher seeds. Find out by coming to Townsley Law Arena tomorrow at 12 p.m. or watch on ESPN+ |
